CNN's GUT CHECK | for August 14, 2012 | 5 p.m.
– n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle

DEVELOPING: ROMNEY GOES ON THE MEDICARE OFFENSIVE: Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign announced Tuesday that it is going up with a new TV ad that claims President Barack Obama has cut more than $700 billion from Medicare. The Romney campaign says the new 30-second spot will start running on Wednesday and describes the ad buy as "significant."

AD SCRIPT: "You paid in to Medicare for years. Every paycheck. Now, when you need it Obama has cut $716 billion from Medicare. Why? To pay for Obamacare. So now the money you paid for your guaranteed health care is going to a massive new government program that's not for you. The Romney-Ryan plan protects Medicare benefits for today's seniors and strengthens the plan for the next generation."

CHICAGO CALLS THE AD HYPOCRITICAL, DISHONEST: Lis Smith, Obama campaign spokeswoman: “The savings his ad attacks do not cut a single guaranteed Medicare benefit, and Mitt Romney embraced the very same savings when he promised he’d sign Paul Ryan’s budget. … The truth is that the Romney-Ryan budget would end Medicare as we know it: People with Medicare would be left with nothing but a voucher in place of the guaranteed benefits they rely on today. And they do it all to pay for massive tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires – the very same top-down economic scheme that crashed our economy and devastated the middle class in the first place.”

TRAIL TRIVIA(Answer below)
The Japanese surrendered to the United States on August 10, 1945, but the surrender was not made public until this day in history. What two U.S. ships were attacked between the two dates?

“Shock and Awe.” This is how we describe the upcoming Chris Christie and Marco Rubio prime time speeches at the Republican National Convention.

Christie is the “shock,” a street fighter who is willing to challenge his political enemies and is about as blunt as any politician we have seen in recent time. He’ll deliver red meat - we only wish we knew now what he is going to say.

Rubio provides the “awe” because he bucks the stereotype that Latinos only support the Democratic Party. Yes, we know and you know that he is a Cuban-American and Florida Cubans tend to be conservative. But not everybody in America knows that and the optics on Thursday night as he introduces Mitt Romney will be striking. Rubio embodies the American dream. He is reminiscent of John Kerry’s keynote speaker in 2004: a state legislator from Illinois. Four years later that legislator would become president.

We have to wonder if the timing of these announcements was a strategic move to help steer the conversation away whether Romney fully embraces Paul Ryan’s budget-cutting plan, including his controversial proposal to make sweeping changes to Medicare.

To us, it is apparent that Republicans will focus their convention on two basic messages: straight talk and the future, themes the Romney campaign has yet to master.

the LEDEDid you miss it?

Leading CNNPolitics:Candidates blanket battleground states
Iowa. Ohio. Colorado. Virginia. Nevada. All are battleground states crucial to both sides' chances for victory in November, and all host campaign events Tuesday by the presidential and vice-presidential contenders. – Tom Cohen

Leading Drudge:'They Gonna Put Y'all Back In Chains'
Vice President Joe Biden told supporters that Republicans would “put y’all back in chains,” during a campaign speech Tuesday in Danville, Va.

Leading Politico:GOP pros fret over Paul Ryan
You’ve heard them on television and read them on POLITICO — cheerful, defiant statements from Republican political professionals about Mitt Romney’s bold masterstroke in tapping Paul Ryan as his running mate, and turning the 2012 presidential race into a serious, far-reaching debate about budgets and the nation’s future. – Alexander Burns, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Martin

Leading The New York Times:Bloomberg, in Chicago, Urges Campaigns to Discuss Immigration Reform
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg appeared with William M. Daley, a former White House chief of staff, for breakfast here on Tuesday, united in their belief that immigration reform is one of the best and cheapest ways to revive the nation’s economy. – Karen Ann Cullotta

TRAIL MOMENTSThe political bites of the day

- Ryan relishes regular guy role, says he is ‘the American dream’ -PAUL RYAN AT A CAMPAIGN RALLY IN DENVER: “You know, I don’t know about you, but when I was growing up, you know when I was flipping burgers at McDonalds, when I was standing in front of that big Hobart machine washing dishes or waiting tables, I never thought of myself as stuck in some station in life. I thought to myself, I’m the American dream.”

- Biden gets hyperbolic -VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN AT A CAMPAIGN EVENT IN VIRGINA: “Look at what they value and look at their budget and what they are proposing. Romney wants to let – he said in the first 100 days – he is going to let the big banks once again write their own rules. Unchain Wall Street. He is going to put you all back in chains.”

- CNN's John King on the ground In Iowa, catches up with David Axelrod -KING: Does Paul Ryan change the map at all?AXELROD: I think what Paul Ryan does is furhter clarifies the choice. There's absolutly no doubt that there are two distinct views about how we should move forward as a country. I would argue that this takes us back. He was a supporter of all the Bush policies in the last decade. Now he wants to double down on them- trillions and trillions of dollars in new tax cuts- just as Gov. Romney does, skewed to the wealthy that would raise burdens on the middle class. That would end in deep deep cuts on things like college aid, healthcare, medicare, on a range of things that are fundamental. And would make us, I think, less competitive, because we won't be investing in education, research and development, energy, infrastructure- the very things we need to grow our economy. So I don't think its a good vision for the country, but its a distinct vision, and its more distinct than it was a few days ago...KING: When you look at the map is there a reasonable scenario... IA, NH, ... could decide this one, could come down to one state?AXELROD: John my philosophy is always to plan for the worst and hope for the best. And so we're planning for 270 electoral votes. And in that scenario, even a smaller state like IA can be a pivotal state. And that's why we're spending 3 days here. We're not leaving anything to chance. We're fighting for every vote and every electoral vote.

- In 2012, a female moderator was a must, says Simpson -CAROLE SIMPSON, THE LAST WOMAN TO MODERATE A PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE, IN 1992, ON CNN’S “STARTING POINT”: “Men and women are different. We see things differently. We have different concerns and particularly in this 2012 election, where there is talk among the candidates about Roe v. Wade and contraception and reproductive rights and (a) personhood amendment, there are a lot of issues that concern women in a way that don't concern men. And so I thought it was particularly important that this year there be a woman that would be able to ask some of those questions that men might not find as important as we do.”

TOP TWEETSWhat stopped us in 140 characters or less

Obama talks up wind today. Romney talks up coal. We're 2/5 of the way to summoning Captain Planet.

Even though the Japanese surrendered to the United States on August 10, 1945, it wasn’t until August 14 that the Japanese people were notified that they, in fact, had lost the war and surrendered.

Because of this four-day lag, fighting between the Japanese and the Russians in Manchuria and the Japanese and the United States in the South Pacific continued after the Japanese had submitted a formal declaration of surrender.

In fact, two ships – the Oak Hill and the Thomas F. Nickel – were attacked by Japanese submarine I-58. The two ships were en route from Okinawa when they sighted the submarine and began to make evasive maneuvers. The submarine, reportedly, fired a manned, suicide torpedo, named a Kaiten, that missed its mark and exploded near the Oak Hill.

Though they saw combat after the Japanese surrendered, both ships safely made it back to the port of Leyte in the Philippines.

GUT CHECK WINNER’S CIRCLE(why aren’t you in it)

Two days in a row and no one has answered the Gut Check Trivia question correctly. Either our questions are getting harder or our throngs of followers are on vacation.

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The problem with Romney/Ryan's trying to undo the anti Medicare message by saying Obama is cutting the program, is that only their previously committed right wingers will believe it. As seniors have seen progress made in the drug subscription programs where the money was rellocated, except in State where the Republican party has failed to enact this legislation. Once again, the GOP, with nothing to help anyone except the bottome line of their weathy corporate and donor clients, is relying on misinformation to buy an election. Nothing in the Romney/Ryan budget will bring jobs home, address escalating healthcare costs, insure the uninsured, protect working America from corporate and banking greed, or encourage innovation. Big business invested little in innovation during the crash to ensure new emissions, new sources of energy, or to keep jobs here but invested huge sums in lobbying to ease regulations, transfer jobs and revenues overseas, and increase executive salaries based on "cost cutting" which generally consisted of laying off workers, over burdening others, and following a ruthless and irresponsible path toward cheaper and cheaper products. Hard to sell, so resort to lies.

August 14, 2012 05:21 pm at 5:21 pm |

Workers Unite !

CNN, how's your gut feel about the communists you helped put into power without ever vetting a single item about them ?

August 14, 2012 05:23 pm at 5:23 pm |

Larry L

A photo of Christie on CN'S "Gut Check"? Too funny!

August 14, 2012 05:26 pm at 5:26 pm |

CanadaONE

Cristi Rubio HOW LOW CAN YOU GO??

putting your money in the Cayman Islands – about 200 million to save paying American taxes IS PRETTY LOW!!!

he would never have a chance running for any public office in Canada – we would likely kick him out of the country for taking advantge of the people who do pay their fair share of taxes

Romney – "the home of the SAVE (taxes) and the land of FREE (benefits)" his athem...

August 14, 2012 05:32 pm at 5:32 pm |

Sniffit

"good ad.... obama's cuts and obamacare is the real threat to medicare."

The ACA cuts are primarily to hospital over-reimbursement and future revenues, wheraes the cuts in Ryan's budget are directly to the benefits received by the elderly and disabled. You want to knw the real differences with each plan? Here, let me help your tiny brain;

The ACA expands prescription drug coverage for seniors and uses the money saved by the cuts to close the "doughnut hole." Ryan's budget does not expand coverage or close the doughnut hole, instead using the savings to help fund tax breaks for the extremely wealthy that would have resulted in Mittens paying a 0.82% (yes, 0.0082) tax rate if applied to his 2010 taxes.

Cuts to Medicare Advantage have resulted in higher enrollment and decreased average premiums. Ryan's plan contains none of this.

The ACA's Medicaid expansion offers seniors more options for long-term care that Medicare does not provide. Ryan's plan would greatly harm Medicaid.

The ACA is prjected to save seniors under traditional Medicare an average of $4,200 over 10 years and an average of between $3,000-$16,000 on prescription drugs depending on their costs. Ryan's plan can't claim that whatsoever.

The ACA guarantees your benefits, just like Medicare always has. The Ryan plan gives you coupons, the value of which would quickly be outstripped by the skyrocketing costs ofhealth care, leaving seniors without the ability to pay for their health care insurance or services and with no recourse to do so.

The list goes on and on and on. Ryan was the dumbest choice Mittens could have made and we're going to make him choke on his attempts to distract from the Ryan budget, which he promised to sign if POTUS, by making false attacks on the ACA.

August 14, 2012 05:48 pm at 5:48 pm |

JimB

I'm surprised the Obama campaign has not put out an ad yet regarding Medicare, but more importantly the entire Ryan Budget plan. Romney shouldn't set the tone for this issue.

August 14, 2012 05:57 pm at 5:57 pm |

Bugl3t

"You paid in to Medicare for years. Every paycheck. Now, when you need it Obama has cut $716 billion from Medicare. Why? To pay for Obamacare. So now the money you paid for your guaranteed health care is going to a massive new government program that's not for you."

RoMoney/RyAyn want to do the same thing (cut Medicare) only they want it to go to a DIFFERENT welfare program: those poor, mistreated 1%ers who just need another tax cut or two so they can trickle (jobs? I think not!) down on you.

DUCK! Next thing you know, they will be selling you umbrellas.

August 14, 2012 06:46 pm at 6:46 pm |

eMan

What a hypocrite… In addition he attacks Obama for supposedly eliminating $700 Billion from Medicare; but HIS PLAN DOES PRECISELY THAT EXACT SAME CUT !!!

I think this Ryan was a bad choice and it shows Romney makes bad decisions which we've seen for years and years now. First, the attention is on Ryan now, NOT Romney, second, this is a guy who wants to eliminate Medicare, which the elderly, by and large depend on. Third, this guy voted to allow electronic survelliance WITHOUT a court ordered warrant, which is..... drum roll,..... UNCONSTITUTIONAL! AND UN-AMERICAN !!! Fourth this guy wants to eliminate "birth control",... REALLY? Fifth, the Catholic church itself is AGAINST his financial plans because it hurts the poor and middle class, as the rich get massive tax cuts. Fifth, this guy waants Abortion illegal even for RAPE abd INCEST,... REALLY? What if some young punk broke into his mothers house and raped her? IS he still OK with her carrying the baby til birth, and then having to raise this child?

Ryan is hypocritcal, he VOTED for TARP !!! He VOTED for Medicare Part D, AND he VOTED FOR TWO WARS WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO PAY FOR THEM. OK to spend with Republican Pres like Bush, but NOW it's wrong,... WRONG !!!

There's more, but this is a good start. FOOLISH move IMHO... And as a side note,... What is Romney hiding in his tax returns? It's obviously something! And to boot, this is one of the most disingenuous people I have ever seen!
This is not about Obama, or anyone else. Just Romney and Ryan.

August 14, 2012 07:13 pm at 7:13 pm |

T'sah From Virginia

►TRENDING: Campaign 2012: How low can you go?◄
As low as ti takes Romney to hide Tax Returns so "no one" will know
As low as Romney would go to "Etch-A-Sketch" his way out from what was said in the past
As low as a lie would take you and knowing damn well that CRAP won't last!!

How low can you go – As low as ROBmeHOOD would go to TRY to get elected!

Obama 2012 – The Only Trusted Way Forward!

August 14, 2012 07:35 pm at 7:35 pm |

Frank

People of the United States of America, Mitt Romney, VP Ryan , President Obama, VP Biden and Congress,
Listen up, there was a song in the early 1970s called “Ball of Confusion” and there was a line that went”Politicians say more taxes will solve everything”. This country since the mid 1960s to now has spent Trillions on dollars on poverty, education and health programs and every one of those programs are currently screwed up and we are being told by both political parties that they need to be fixed because there is not enough money to keep them going. Here’s a couple of my suggestions serious and amusing to fix the problem.1)Do not take any and I mean any tax money out of Social Security to pay for other programs, politicians need to keep their god damn hands off the money and keep it and use it for what it was originally intended,2)Raise the Social Security Tax on everyone by 2 percent on each weekly paycheck.3)Raise the Medicare Tax on everyone’s weekly paycheck by 4% .On the Lighter side.1) Install human weigh stations in each community and tax everyone who is overweight for their height and body structure. This would force everyone to lose weight, eat healthy thus reducing health costs, HA! If it works for trucks on major highways it should work on people. Also, what real use is the GSA, they are screw ups and should be eliminated just like the Department of Education, and Education is failing in this country so eliminate the department because it is a failure.
Failure of our Government at this point in our history is no longer an option.
T

August 14, 2012 08:16 pm at 8:16 pm |

LIB

Repubs lying again, the money from Obamacare will go into social security to make it once again sustainable. Mitt ryan lying.